Von der Leyen warns that the EU’s challenges will not be solved by “shifting money into the budget”

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, warned this Wednesday that none of the challenges facing the European Union – such as the invasion of Ukraine, the energy crisis or now the war in the Middle East – “can be solved by simply shifting money within the budget.” “None of this could be foreseen when the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) was agreed; that is why we have proposed a review of our budget,” said Von der Leyen during her speech in the European Parliament debate prior to the summit this Thursday. and Friday. At this meeting, the heads of State and Government of the EU will study reducing by a third the contributions that Brussels asks of them for the community budget from the 66,000 million initially proposed to 22,500 million, according to the draft that will be presented at the summit by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and to which Europa Press has had access. The text proposes reducing the entire MFP for the period between 2024 and 2027 from the 99,000 million proposed by the Community Executive to 64,600 million and also has an item of 17,000 million that will be obtained from the reallocation of funds from existing programs. The German leader has defended that the Commission proposed a package of four important updates for the budget for the next four years, among which she has highlighted the need to guarantee stable financing for Ukraine, as well as migration or investments in clean technologies for boost the EU’s competitiveness. “None of this can be resolved simply by moving money within the budget,” stressed Von der Leyen, who has asked to take into account that the Union budget, like the national ones, also feels “the pressure of inflation and the rise of interest rates”. Although he does see a “growing consensus” on the priorities that the Commission has already set with its proposal to review the MFF, he recognizes that “the question is how to finance them”, aware that national public finances are “under pressure” and that it will be necessary to make “difficult” decisions. “For this reason, more than ever, the Union must be able to finance its priorities with its own resources,” he urged, since the next long-term budget is “just around the corner” and Europe “must have the financial power necessary to fulfill the historic tasks of this decade and the next.